


Bitter Sweet

by Luminol



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dark!Thor, M/M, Mythical Beings, NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS, Possible mindfuckery, Tagging as I go, Tags and I have a love-hate relationship, set in medieval times more or less, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-02-20 22:05:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2444819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminol/pseuds/Luminol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where the supernatural exist a young Loki meets a mysterious vampire—and <em>lives</em>. There is a millennia-long ongoing war raging between the humans and Unnaturals, but it seems to Loki that peace is not only a possibility, but a certainty.</p><p>But in a world consisting of so many varieties, humans and Unnaturals alike, nothing is as it seems. Not even himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CandyassGoth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CandyassGoth/gifts).



> This fic is inspired by my bestie's infatuation with Loki, and is dedicated to her as a very late (or perhaps very early) birthday gift.
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE~POO

Loki had always been oblivious to time.

Up until bright colours framed the setting sun, Loki had no care for time. Time was just another high ranking topic on the adults' things-to-complain-about list, right next to age. To twelve-year-old Loki, time consisted of only two intervals; time for bed and time to explore. Seconds, minutes, hours just filled in the blanks.

As with any child his age, "time to play" often leaked right through into "time for home" and, if the situation called for it, Loki would let play-time overrule bedtime completely. He'd simply slip out of his room unseen until either exhaustion won or someone found and dragged him back by his ear.

_If only someone would find him now._

A shiver slithered down Loki's spine as his eyes trained on the elongated shadow between two particularly large trees – the position of the sun aside, he has never seen a shadow quite like this one in the forest before.

In the _Forbidden_ Forest, no less.

The place was to Loki like honey to a bee; his curiosity knew no bounds, and when he caught wind of such a mysterious, _dangerous_ place conveniently situated right next to his hometown, there was just no way he could resist. He had visited the forest multiple times before and, despite all the legends townsfolk swore by, he'd never come across anything scarier than an overprotective mother swan.

So he kept venturing deeper and deeper and deeper…

Shifting nervously, he cringed when a dead twig snapped under his soles, but to his relief, or dismay, the foreign shadow didn't move an inch.

Loki swallowed dryly when only the last bit of the sun remained on the horizon, the outer circles of sunset already fading into blackness – no one knew where he was, no one would even think coming to look for him here, and the only way home was right past the ominous shadow.

"Who's there?" Loki demanded, voice catching slightly on the last word.

Silence.

Early crickets resumed their songs, the wind still whispered through the trees, the sun kept sinking… and the shadow kept waiting.

"I said; who is there!" Hysterics must have gotten to him, because his voice broke mortifyingly on last word into something more of a screech, startling the birds in the trees behind him. In turn, their fearful fluttering startled _him_ enough to pry a choked cry from his lips, body instinctively turning to face them.

He forced his breathing down when he recognized the sound as wings, but had to bite back a whimper when he realized just how gloomy the forest had grown deeper in – won't be long until it will be impossibly dark even in the outskirts of the forest. He couldn't stay here; he would have to make a run for it. Shadow or not.

He swung back around with determination; all he had to do was run a bit to his right, as far as the trench will allow, keep close to the vegetation and th-

His eyes widened when he glanced in the shadow's direction.

It was gone.

He was just about to flat out panic when a dark voice purred behind him; "Wrong question."

Loki's reaction was immediate; he tried to twist towards the undoubtedly male voice, but strong hands that came out of nowhere kept him securely in place. The man tut condescendingly, hands tightening around his bony shoulders until he feared something was about to crack. "This is no place for little humans," the voice murmured on, delight etched in every word, "here there be monsters."

"Liar." Loki expected many reactions to his accusation, but the man's guffaw wasn't one of them, and a reckless boldness overtook the boy as he felt the big body shake in mirth. "I've been in here more than I can count and no Unnatural ever appeared."

"Oh?" The man gave an impressed whistle when his laughter finally died down. "You speak differently from the townsfolk. People usually cower at the word." He gave a small, absentminded chuckle, "Such a shame…"

The adult's tone of voice itself felt like an inappropriate caress over his person, and another shiver shook his young body.

"I-I'm not afraid of you," He lied, hoping the man wouldn't notice his wavering voice, but he choked on his hope when the man let out a breathy huff.

"Your scent is far more honest than you, little dove…" the man informed lightly, burying his nose underneath the collar of Loki's shirt and breathing deeply. A spark shot through Loki, before being replaced with an overwhelming feeling of lethargy and relaxation. He practically slumped in the man's arms, now enjoying the rough stubble dragging along his skin in his neck.

_Like a spell._

It was then, and only then, that Loki realized how dire his situation really was, and late survival instincts kicked in. He jerked his head away from that chilly, persistent nose ."Let me go! Let me go, you monster!"

"Ah, what is this?" the Unnatural mocked against his neck, easily subduing the kicking, squirming little body. "I detect a flavour of… despair? Figured it out already, then – and here I was hoping for a bit more..."

At the confirmation, Loki couldn't keep his body from trembling, nor the tears that rolled over his cheeks. He resisted the trance the vampire tried to place him in again easily, and refused to let the sniffles escape, refused to let the thing see his control over him. But the fear was overpowering when the big hands slid almost soothingly towards his neck, and it was the man's nose pressing against his nape that had indignation resettling in his stomach.

He did the only thing he could – he screamed, loud enough to echo energetically through the forest. Whether it was out of frustration, fear, or in hopes of being rescued, he'd never know. But it had no effect on the thing behind him whatsoever.

"Scream all you like, little dove. No one can hear you," Loki swore the man slurred his words, like his father did on particularly dull celebrations. "And those who can, don't care."

 _More?_ There were _more?_

"My father will find you," Loki whispered weakly as a hand cupped the right side of his neck, the other icy hand slithering around his stomach to press him in closer. The promise Loki made was in general, not just towards the beast behind him. "I know he will."

"Aaand who is this brave warrior I should look out for?" the deep voice rumbled unperturbed before gently pushing Loki's head to the side, exposing the delicious, milky white neck.

"Odin." Loki could feel the change in the atmosphere as clearly as each ice cold exhale against his neck, and for a few seconds neither of them moved. Birds chirped, crickets sang…

"His only child died along with his wife; she murdered their son before committing suicide." The words came across as well-rehearsed to Loki, but he found a strange satisfaction in the uncertainty that leaked through.

It was true, though. As stories go, his mother was horribly depressed, and despite the kingdom's best efforts, she remained nestled in that deep dark pit throughout her life. Then one day when things finally got too much, she decided to take her own life. But she couldn't leave her son behind to this cruel world, so she tried to take him with her. He was barely seventeen months back then, but something went wrong in Frigga's plans to overdose him on medicine, and he survived.

But some questions he never got answers for either, so what the elders whispered behind their hands was all he ever knew of her. His father never even mentioned her in front of him, and he never dared ask – and no amount of snooping ever produced anything other than the information he already possessed.

"And here I am," Loki quipped, and he can't remember when such bitterness began to play in his voice like that.

"Here you are." The Unnatural echoed, hands gradually loosening their grip around him, but not enough to let him escape. "Here you really, really are."

Loki frowned at the strange phrase of words, but before he could comment on it a deep chuckle bubbled from the man behind him, and then became the type of laughter that had Loki more worried about _how_ he was going to die rather then _if._

He gave a little hiccup when the strong hands swung him to face his captor, and Loki's breath caught when he was faced with the Unnatural who laughs too much; eyes as blue as the sky by day, hair as gold as the sun that kisses it, body nothing but chiselled muscle and a strong chin to match.

He was mesmerizing, and Loki couldn't recall anyone even slightly resembling _this_ back in his village.

His admiration was cut short when the man tensed visibly at a local bird's call nearby.

Grabbing Loki's chin, the man tilted the boy's head so their eyes could lock again. "Now listen to me, little dove; run past the two trees you were eyeing earlier and follow the little trail until you reach the road, but don't take the right turn that leads directly towards the village. Take the longer way around past the crop fields." The fingers tightened around his chin enough to make him yelp and clench his eyes shut. "Do you understand?"

"Yes!" he sobbed; already on tiptoes to try minimize the pain… and then the fingers supporting his face were gone. He stumbled forwards at the sudden change in gravity, almost landing face first in the cool green grass.

For a moment he almost wish he had.

"Loki!"

Concentrating on his surroundings, he missed the call of his name, focussing instead on where the Unnatural could possibly have disappeared to in the almost blackness of the woods. If it wasn't for his still aching jaw, he would have made it off as nothing but a weird hallucination brought on by the moss he was so careless around.

"Loki!" There wasn't a criminating rustle, not even a spot where the nightlife grew silent. Everything was peaceful and calm. Everything was-

"Loki!" Only now did Loki register the voice of his lifelong friend, "Oh, thank the gods you're safe!" and he thought he could hear growing relief in each rapidly approaching footstep. "If you want to keep your endeavours in the forest secret, staying out here until after dark really isn't helping! Your old man is ready to whip you silly."

He didn't feel the need to answer Tony right now.

His friend gave an exasperated huff at Loki's silence. "Know what, I just might beat him to it. What the hell is the matter wi-" Tony's anger deflated as soon as he swung the smaller boy to face him, and Loki disliked the worry that plastered itself on his tanned face. The mental debate was almost palpable to Loki, and a harsh 'what' was already on the tip of his tongue. "Why are you crying?"

_What?_

Loki gave an annoyed frown, ready to defend himself, but the unmistakeable tickle of a tear down his cheek made the words die in his throat. He glanced at Tony again, but couldn't hold his gaze because of the tenderness in the big brown eyes, so he opted to angrily wipe at the wet remnant on his cheek.

"I'm not crying."

Tony's mouth moved, and he might have said something or not, but all sound was momentarily drowned by the deafening call of war, a call that neither boy has heard outside of the palace walls before, but recognized instantly – Loki's father's shofar. For a long few seconds, the tenor call of the relic coloured the night with sound, a sound that raised hairs on both boys' bodies. Barely had it ended, or a choir of shofars sounded in the early stages of the night.

Tony's eyes widened before he crushed Loki's hand in his own, pulling him back towards the safety of the town.

Everyone within hearing distance will bear the same look as Tony, for this is not a war of man against man, but the sound of age old battle between man and beast. Between human and unnatural. No human would admit it, but fear always crept up their spines at the thought of these monstrosities taking a swing at their cities, towns, homes…

Following Tony blindly, he barely registered the little footpath he froze at before, barely spared a second glance at the two trees as they ran between them, barely thought about how their leather shoes created dust on the little road as they headed the fork in the road.

… _don't take the right turn_

He instinctively glanced to his right when something went past them, something fast and large.

_Do you understand?_

Three or more shadows passed them as they reached the fork in the road, and Loki swore he heard a growl even above the sound of the shofars.

_Take the longer way around the crop fields_

It didn't take a genius to know what Tony was yelling at him when he stopped dead right in the middle of the fork, but he knew he had definitely needed to use creativity to guess Tony's reaction when he grabbed his friend's hand and dragged him on the left path instead. The hand did struggle and yank a few times in his, but relented soon.

Their breaths grew a bit shorter when the path made the steep turn up the mountain where the crops proudly stood ready to harvest, but thankfully it had no effect on their pace thanks to their regular outdoor activities. What actually had an effect was how dark it was getting – the sun behind this mountain blinded them, successfully creating the illusion of a deeper black surrounding them. The moon was little to no help, being nothing but a sliver in a star-littered sky.

The two boys paused when the shofars did, breaths still chasing in the deafening silence. Tony sucked in a shuddering breath before diving among the maize crops, dragging Loki along with him. He went on his knees when his friend urged him to, small finger pointing towards a big shadow on the grassy plains ahead. It took a bit of squinting to make out that it was actually hundreds of life forms gathered in front of their town's walls; a collective of Unnaturals.

It was also then, when his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, that Loki was thankful to already be on his knees; right there, in the middle of the little road leading straight towards his hometown, were the bodies of people he was certain he'd recognize in daylight.

Carts that was once filled with gathered crops laid upturned on the dusty road, bodies of all shapes and sizes filling the gaps. Dark liquid surrounded some bodies, while some of the shapes among the devastation on the road looked suspiciously like limbs.

Had they taken the normal road…

"Do you hear that?"

Yes, he did. It was a low pulsating hum, more of a vibration, but it was a sound alien to Loki's ears, and it was all coming from _inside_ the town walls. The boys exchanged confused glances, and Loki had no doubt that Tony's heartbeat was as fast as his own.

"What the- AH!" Both cried out in fright when a brilliant bluish-white light split the darkness like some artificial sun, the humming sound amplified to the point where Loki wanted to cover his ears. And in front of them, the fields and surrounding lands were illuminated as though someone lit a million candles.

His eyes were drawn to the strange lightning bolt dancing between two pillars that was definitely not there when he left the village this morning, and the sound only went higher and higher until it was nothing but a high-pitched wheeze.

And then all hell broke loose.

Above the sound of the rippling blue light, both boys clearly heard the townsmen's cry of blood thirst and battle, of war and rage. Loki's shivered as the vibration grew ever faster, thrumming through his body like a tightly wound string. He felt dizzy from the sensation, but he didn't dare remove his eyes from the battlefield.

The Unnaturals _scattered._

And he was in awe – those who the men caught up with, didn't fight back with the strength Loki knew they possessed, and some didn't fight at all. They appeared almost disorientated, sluggish and listless. Even the smallest of humans had no problem taking down something as big as a minotaur, or as fierce as a werewolf, and some of the beast were even placed in shackles.

 _Unnaturals, captured._ Such a thing has never been heard of before, and it was all happening right in front of their eyes.

For the next half-hour, Loki and Tony were spellbound by the battle on the plain; it was a short but bloody fight. Nearly two thirds of all Unnaturals were either captured or decapitated within twenty minutes, and in the end only few Unnaturals remained standing.

The last one to fall, literally, into the hands man, had Loki's breath quickening again. It had locks the colour of the sun, muscles made of marble underneath healthy skin with a strong chin to match.

And Loki was very sure, as he and Tony hastily made their way back to the town around the crop fields, that the captured Unnatural had eyes the colour of the bright blue sky by day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the name Unnaturals instead of Supernaturals, seeing as the people are at war with these mythical creatures. My little mind reasoned that, the last thing people would want to imprint on their children is how SUPER these beings are, and would prefer to create HATE rather than fear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys thank you for all the kudos and comments!! I really appreciate it. All of them set a spring in my step!!
> 
> Hopefully you'll enjoy the next chapter, too... after an incredibly long wait. Please forgive me.

"Three cheers for Prince Loki's twenty-second birthday!"

Loki barely contained his disgust when the words borne from an intoxicated tongue was actually met with enthusiastic cheers – of which the loudest came from his _best friend._

He fixed his glare on Tony when the man loudly scolded one of the drunkards who didn't stop on the third cheer, and Loki's expression darkened further when he then almost tripped over his own two drunken feet on the way to the multitude of beer kegs stacked in a corner.

_Why were they best friends again?_

He pulled a face when a person near Tony slipped and fell spectacularly in a spilt drink, suddenly very grateful for his elevated seat as boisterous laughter erupted at the man's misfortune, some even going as far as giving the fool a congratulary pat on the back.

"Ugh," He slumped in the overpriced, overdone golden chair, feeling deeply disappointed as he placed his chin on his palm. He knew the royal birthday celebrations were nothing more than a means to please their subjects with an overflow of food and drink, but recent rumours had promised an unforgettable night, had promised something _more._

But so far everything was, begrudgingly, following the same dull little path it took every year.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an upbeat whistle approaching, a tune completely in conflict with the one the orchestra were performing. Loki didn't have to look to know it was Tony who was carefully manoeuvring between dancing, mirthful, drunken bodies to get within hearing distance from him.

He did however cock an eyebrow when Tony made his way up the small stage erected for celebrations such as these, not as much for the crowd's eye as for their, the royals, own safety, but the tipsy man didn't pick up on his signals at all. His throne guards did, though, but each and every one of them were used to Tony's barbaric and inconsiderate ways.

Unaware, Tony opened his mouth but Loki beat him to it: "Anything you say in your state can and will be used against you."

Tony raised an eyebrow as the words slowly sunk in, then took a very deliberate, long gulp from his wine goblet, eyes challenging. Loki knew better than to openly challenge Tony's drinking habits, but sometimes the temptation was just too mouth-watering to pass up.

"I believe you have just sacrificed your only means of escape, _my prince._ " He quipped in a lowered voice, one the guards most likely wouldn't have heard. Tony gave another one of his little half-bows to which Loki huffed, determined not to let the hold on his curiosity slip. He sat back slowly, adopting the perfect bored posture as he looked down on Tony, and the latter instinctively rose to the challenge. "Unless, of course, my prince can't bear to part with the… pleasant, atmosphere." Tony's eyes flicked to another drunken escapade to his right before giving Loki a knowing look.

Loki rapped his fingers a few times on the metallic armrest, keeping a smile to himself.

_This is why they were best friends._

With a final salute to the guards, Tony made his way back down the stairs with graceful steps that belied his earlier drunken performance. He watched Tony disappear into one of the side doors with a casual wink at Loki and an awkward, self-conscious nod to one of the guards closest to the door; he had heard the man clearing his throat from all the way over here before he slipping into the door's dark entrance.

He couldn't help a secret sort of excitement at Tony's odd behaviour. The man rarely could keep a secret, let alone be enigmatic and mysterious.

Motioning for the guards to remain at their posts, Loki rose to his feet elegantly. The thought of his father returning before he did nagged at the back of his mind, but odds are the King was already passed out, something at least half of the people in the hall will be before midnight. Why should he care?

Drawing strength from a deep breath, he began his way through the crowded room; some people made way for him, some did not, some tried, but whether they did or didn't one thing always remained absent – heartfelt respect.

A particularly hard knock to the head by some out of control limb had him pursing his lips, swallowing hard on the indignation that bubbled bitterly in the back of his throat. Though he generated respect through his position, that's as far as it stretched. The true admiration laid with his father, the one man Loki couldn't have differed more from even if he tried.

People believed the reason for this had stemmed from his mother – whether by nature or nurture, or even the attempt on his life, that was up to personal preference. Point was, he was deemed broken and incompetent.

Unworthy of the Great Borson heritage. Unfit to _rule._

The might he slammed the door shut behind him with quieted the festivities noticeably, and he leaned against it with a sort of bitter satisfaction that he was _heard_ , pathetic as it may be. He counted and savoured the precious seconds their discontent lasted, breathing it in like the clean, cool night air until, finally, the musicians inside resumed with mindless melodies.

"Psst."

Really, how old was Tony?

Petulantly, he shouldered himself away from the door and into sound's general direction, following by gut-feeling more than guidance. And if he was right, Tony would be heading straight for his private garden – the very one the man had been banned from indefinitely after he sat half of it on fire one horrible night – and was surprised to find half of the lanterns already lit. Loki had arranged them himself, which took countless nights of twists and twirls until he had found the perfect combination, one that made his garden _glow._

Tony was lighting the last few lanterns hanging from the gazebo's thatched roof, his back turned on the garden furniture arranged in an annoyingly perfect circle. Still, even though the bleach white furniture was clearly out of place, it wasn't enough to subdue the enchanting feel the garden had.

As a child, Loki had been engrossed by the garden and its mysterious growths, insisting to all who would listen that it was powerful, magical. Not even the shocking discovery that it had belonged to his mother was daunting enough to keep him away for long. Instead, he built on it, adding exotic and poisonous flowers to the mix of herbs and spices his mother had collected. The garden revealed more about his mother than the elders ever had, and Loki had done his best to keep the memories alive.

Strangely, it was always these exotic plants that excelled in the garden, growing into the lethal beauties that greatly impressed many of the rich and powerful that frequented the castle. And thanks to their ignorance, the castle kept a blind eye to his sinister collection as well, as long as he granted them access to it for entertainment purposes. And it had been like that for years.

But none of that mattered when a long object, like a shepherd's staff, laid covered in silk on one of the white-washed monstrosities, and it just _fit_.

Loki was perturbed at feeling repelled, but also unequivocally _attracted_ to the item so casually placed on the table. He was light-headed with the feeling of want, of claiming it, and the lanterns guiding him down the cobblestone footpath grew tails like the comets he and Tony used to admire as kids. His eyes darted drunkenly to his friend, both thankful and uneasy at Tony's ignorance to the piece calling for _his touch_ , for his hands, for his ownership.

He was faintly aware that his breathing had excelled, his ears were ringing, heartbeat twice as fast and as loud – but he was so close… so clo-

A hand firmly dropped over the item, breaking the spell, and he felt a twinge of vulnerability when the spell yielded to brown eyes studying him with unconcealed fascination. He couldn't pull his hands away fast enough.

"I asked, are you okay," Tony's voice was dark, too dark.

"I was just wondering what you could be hiding under there," Loki stated after he forced his breathing down, and snatched the object from Tony's hands. Tony relaxed his grip, allowing him to take what he realized wasn't a staff, but a sceptre. Keeping focus on his breathing, he let the excitement flutter secretly in his belly. He cleared his throat delicately as he unwrapped what was soon to be his. "Some sort of elderly king's sceptre, Tony? Didn't you give this to the wrong royal?"

He kept babbling, not sure why or where the words were coming from, why he couldn't stop it, why there was a breathy sort of quality to his voice. He felt his body hum when, finally, _finally_ , it was revealed to him in it's full glory – and it was beautiful. Otherworldly, almost. Unique.

_Tony._

"Did… did you make this?" He almost missed Tony's affirmative answer as he kept admiring the beauty in his hands. His fingertips trailed along the golden handle, slowly up towards the blades – one large one at the top, framed perfectly by a smaller one beneath. It was then that he noticed another piece of cloth covering what must be some sort of orb, fixed between the two shimmering blades.

Tony had silently moved in behind him, but he was forgotten as soon the cloth fell away to reveal the most brilliant of blue. It was what the ocean would look like if illuminated, it was overwhelming, and it was taking over the whole garden.

"It is chip from the Infinity Stone; that very stone that saved our fair city all those years ago. You remember, right?" Loki dragged his eyes away from the hypnotizing light to nod, and was just able to suppress a shiver at Tony's eyes which appeared darker from the shadow cast by the light. "And it's glowing, Loki. It's _glowing_."

The despair in Tony's voice made Loki lower the scepter, looking after his friend when last mentioned turned to lean on the gazebo's railing, back bowed in a fashion that can only be described as dejection. Loki's unease grew exponentially.

"Yes, yes okay it's glowing. I don't see how you can get upset about something so beautiful."

"Loki…" Tony's broken voice barely carried over the light breeze, and Loki had no idea what to make with the mountainous amount of emotion buried there. After a shuddering breath, Tony continued; "Bruce and I designed it long ago when it became apparent that you were resistant to the Repellent. But it was only recently that we were able to safely remove a piece from the stone. Its power flows right into the blades situated on top of it. A single touch from it could bring an army of Unnaturals to their knees…"

Loki was speechless.

"Happy birthday, Loki." He had to blink a few times to believe he actually heard his friend right, for in all his birthdays, no matter how horrible any of them had turned out, he had never said it in such a sad tone before.

"Go, Loki. Your father will be looking for you," Tony said in an abnormally even voice, and for a moment Loki almost gaped at his friend's unconventional behaviour. He was staring into the darkness, knuckles white with how tightly he fisted the wooden railing.

"Tony-"

"Go."

Loki felt his nostrils flare at Tony's audacity and straightened his posture, the staff's neatly polished wood burning pleasantly in his hands.

He turned on his heels and hasted back over the cobblestone path, straight to and past the door he had stood against just a few minutes ago, but for some reason, none of his problems really mattered anymore. With unknown confidence, he flung open the doors, only to find all his people quietly seated and his father standing next to the throne.

Loki felt delirious with the stone's faint blue glow on the ground.

Odin turned to face him, one blue eye brightly in the flames of the torch light, the other covered by the leather eye patch he were forced to wear after that fateful battle ten years ago.

"Approach! My son," Odin called to him, and Loki swallowed once before complying, gracefully ascending the steps to take his place at his father's left side.

Odin cleared his throat once.

"We are gathered here today in celebration of my son's coming of age, an honour that had come to pass exactly one decade after humanity took back what had been taken of them. We stand here today, not only as people, but as earth's most powerful race!" A rambunctious round of cheers, whoops and applause echoed within the entertainment hall, and Loki caught his father's side glance with one of his own, and he did NOT like the look his father had in his eye.

"So, it is with great honour, that I gift my son with what is rightfully his – his own personal servant, one of pure and royal blood as he deserves nothing less." A low rumbling rose from the crowd exclaims and questions, while Loki's stomach made a severe turn at his father's words.

Odin took a step towards him, one Loki found aggressive and intimidating, but realized wasn't aimed at him, not exactly. "Bring in the prisoner!"

The large, heavy doors from the back room opened, and the rattling of chains echoed through the acoustic of the hall; two guards led a large figure between them into the hall, followed closely by two more guards each holding a chain bound to the shackles around strong ankles.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Odin's voice boomed over the clinking chains. "I present to you, the son of Thanos, prince of the Unnaturals – Thor!" some of the guests jumped away as the mighty presence bound in chains slowly made his way down the path. Women gave shrill gasps as they hid behind their husbands, and Loki felt his knees beg to give way as he stared at who was walking straight towards him.

Eyes as blue as the sky by day, hair as gold as the rays that befell them… the little rhyme he had played for himself over and over for so long was now screaming in his ears.

Loki's heartbeat drowned out the people's mix of cheers and taunts, drowned out the sound of his father's voice explaining how there could be no greater gift, than giving the son of his enemy as slave to his own.

_Power_.

His birthday gift was nothing more than a show of power.

Loki sat quietly next to his father for the rest of the night, watching as the people's confidence slowly grew as they circled the vampire, initiating a sadistic ritual that involved spitting, cussing, name-calling and, sometimes, a quick kick to the ribs or the head that guards claimed were too unexpected to prevent.

The Unnatural – Thor – were tied to the columns of the room, each hand and foot having their own column, spreading him out vulnerable and open to any sort of attack. But not once, not _once_ , had he made an attempt to bite or claw at a single one of them, when Loki knew he could have sunk his teeth in at least one of the drunken bodies shuffling around him.

He just stood there, looking almost helpless in his passiveness. But sometimes, just sometimes, the vampire, Thor, would look up at him, and he'd catch a glimpse of blue like the sky, gold as brilliant as the rays of the sun…

And Loki had no idea who the monsters were anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I had Loki's birthday gift


End file.
